Showtime's Let The Right One In Series Recasts Two Key Roles

We here at /Film are celebrating the Year of the Vampire in 2022, in honor of F.W. Murnau's black-and-white silent horror film classic (and unauthorized "Dracula" adaptation) "Nosferatu: A Symphony of Horror" turning 100. Among the many great movies we've highlighted so far is Tomas Alfredson's Swedish-language vampire drama "Let the Right One In," a haunting, moving tale of a young boy who befriends what he believes is a child his age, but, in reality, is a centuries-old creature of the night. That the film released in the U.S. mere weeks apart from "Twilight" in 2008 is only further testament to just how varied vampire cinema can be in terms of its style and the stories it can tell.

A "Let the Right One In" TV show inspired by both Afreldon's film and John Ajvide Lindqvist's original novel spent years stuck in the early stages of pre-production before receiving a series order from Showtime in September 2021. Head writer Andrew Hinderaker ("Penny Dreadful") has described the show as "both a love letter to the original film, and a story entirely our own," which is intriguing enough by itself to merit keeping an eye on the show's development — including its recent casting changes.

According to Deadline, Željko Ivanek ("Madam Secretary") and Fernanda Andrade ("Narcos: Mexico") have joined Demián Bichir and Madison Taylor Baez in the cast of Showtime's "Let the Right One In," replacing Larry Pine and Susan Santiago in their respective roles from the series' original pilot. The show's official synopsis reads as follows:

Inspired by the original hit Swedish novel and film, the series centers on Mark (Bichir) and his daughter Eleanor (Baez) whose lives were changed forever 10 years earlier when she was turned into a vampire. Locked in at age 12, perhaps forever, Eleanor lives a closed-in life, able to go out only at night, while her father does his best to provide her with the human blood she needs to stay alive. With these emotionally charged and terrifying ingredients as a starting point, Let The Right One In will upend genre expectations, turning a naturalistic lens on human frailty, strength and compassion.

Ivanek will co-star in "Let the Right One In" as Arthur, a scientist and (per Deadline) "the former CEO of a once proud but now disgraced pharmaceutical empire" whose grown-up daughter, Claire, is played by Grace Gummer ("Mr. Robot," "Dr. Death"). As for Andrade, she will step into the role of Mark's "spirited" wife and Eeanor's "devoted" mother Elizabeth, whose "love for her family motivates her to go to any length to protect them."

Besides some excellent actors, the big thing Showtime's "Let the Right One In" has going for it right now (as mentioned earlier) is that it seems to be a true re-imagining that uses Aflredson's movie and Lindqvist's book as a jumping-off point, as opposed to being a strict re-telling of the same story. It's similar to what the cable network's upcoming sci-fi series "The Man Who Fell to Earth" seems to be doing, as far as its own relationship to the movie and novel that inspired it. In a time of never-ending reboots and remakes, I will gladly take that kind of ambition and creativity where I can find it.

"Let the Right One In" has yet to receive a premiere date.